What's Up With MSG Attendance Figures This Season?

[rkhum]

I was stunned when looking at the box score of the Vegas-Rangers game on 10/31 to see they were about 1,000 short of a sellout.
MSG has pretty much been sold out for every Ranger game since 2011; and before then it was a blizzard in 2010 against Nashville that ended another previous streak.

I was even more surprised the Rangers game on 10/21 against Nashville, a Saturday afternoon, also was not a sell out.
My first though-what gives? Are Ranger fans this fickle that a really bad month of October is all it took to end the sell out streak? But then I thought, no, usually ticket sales are done well in advance, so if a team is coming off strong years as the Rangers have, they usually have a lag between poor play and poor attendance. Likewise, if a team has been bad for years, there also tends to be a lag before ticket sales jump.

Moreover, the Rangers and MSG have been known to be quite loyal. This extends beyond the Rangers, to the Knicks. Speaking of the Knicks, they have been a bit of a surprise this season, so I checked out their attendance. Sure enough, they have had several games with about 1,000 unsold seats, this in spite of the early season excitement.

This confirms to me, something is up with MSG. Rangers fans aren't that fickle, they are some of the most loyal in all of sports. Was there some kind of change in the price structure, that would explain why suddenly the Rangers AND Knicks are not selling out?

On TV, the stands look no emptier than before, and on Tiqiq, prices still are very high.

Click to read more...

 

[tailgunner]

ticket prices have finally reached a level where fans are just not willing to fork over big dollars anymore....I had season tickets for years but dropped out last year after seeing that it was getting tougher and tougher to sell my games at face value.

 

[Burke the Legend]

Same issue in Montreal and other Canadian cities. You spend 10-20 years doing annual price raises that are above salary growth and inflation rates then eventually you're going to go overboard.

 

[cutchemist42]

I think is bearing out elsewhere as well.

 

[tony d]

Price of a game is to much. I've told the story here about how when I was in Edmonton last Christmas we thought about going to see an Oilers game. Tickets would be $275 each. For 4 people that would have been 1100 dollars. High ticket prices are happening everywhere. Why pay the price of a ticket and parking and food when you can watch the game at home?

 

[Spartachat]

It is probably due to high tickets prices, overexposure (too many games on TV) and poor play on the ice. The first two reasons are affecting the NFL and the NBA as well.

 

[LeHab]

Oct 21st was Yankees vs Astros game #7, maybe that was a factor. What was their sellout streak if any?

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Ticket prices, ticket prices, and TICKET PRICES.

Dolan has raised them almost 10% every year for the last 5 years and now it's showing. This is my last season as a season ticket holder.

 

[NSH615]

Oct 21st was Yankees vs Astros game #7, maybe that was a factor. What was their sellout streak if any?

That shouldn't have been a factor as the Preds/Rangers game started at 12:30 ET.

 

[Ciao]

Supply and demand, I guess.

Same deal in every market.

I can't justify the high cost of Leafs tickets in my budget -- and I have a good income. They just cost way too much.

I'm sure it's the same in a lot of other places -- New York, Ottawa . . .

 

[DowntownBooster]

I agree with those of you pointing out the issue of ticket prices and how that may be impacting attendance. It would appear that the price of tickets has risen exponentially over the years relative to the average income of the fans.
I have tried to find the average income levels of Canadians to compare the difference between those figures to the average salary of NHL players. I chose the starting point of 1972 as that was the year the WHA started and player salaries would start to escalate.
In 1972 the average Canadian annual income was $ 18,288. The average NHL salary was $ 40,000 (the median was $ 25,000). The highest priced ticket for a Winnipeg Jets game was $ 6.
In 2011 the median Canadian income was $ 30,180. The average NHL salary in 2011 was $ 2.4 million. The average ticket price to a Winnipeg Jets game for the 2011-12 season was $ 98.27.
In 2015 the median Canadian income was $ 33,920. The average NHL salary was $ 2.58 million. According to the Winnipeg Jets website, the highest priced tickets for the 2017-18 season will range from a low of $ 197 up to $ 257 for P1 seats depending on the opponent.
Comparing these figures, we can decipher that the Canadian average annual income is still short of doubling from 1972 to 2015. However, NHL player salaries and ticket prices have increased at a vastly higher rate over the same period. It is little wonder that it has become more of a challenge for fans to keep up with the increasing ticket prices.

 

[varsaku]

I get so jealous of Bundesliga ticket prices. They are so much more affordable to watch pro sports live.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Not only that, but technology is also a huge factor. You can watch a game at home on a huge tv, in high-def or 4d or whatever, avoid all the lineups traffic and increased security, and save money. It's a trend in society the last few years to invest more in the home than ever before, so people are going to spend more time there.

 

[Leon der Profi]

I get so jealous of Bundesliga ticket prices. They are so much more affordable to watch pro sports live.

Apples and Oranges. Here you have a sports product on the ice which first and formost purpose is to make money for its billionare owner and the league, owned by billionares. On the other side of the pond you have a club that is predominatly owned by the folks who fill the seats. Guess why you could never move a bundesliga team to another city. Or why there is no relegation in the NHL.

 

[pucky]

Tix prices keep going up? Is anything else increasing in price? I'm just going to guess, yes. What about merchandise, concessions?, parking etc.?

The owners etc. are gouging the fans and I bet TV subscriptions for NHL (networks and the individual/respective sports network subscriptions) are up in price, too.

 

[pucky]

I agree with those of you pointing out the issue of ticket prices and how that may be impacting attendance. It would appear that the price of tickets has risen exponentially over the years relative to the average income of the fans.
I have tried to find the average income levels of Canadians to compare the difference between those figures to the average salary of NHL players. I chose the starting point of 1972 as that was the year the WHA started and player salaries would start to escalate.
In 1972 the average Canadian annual income was $ 18,288. The average NHL salary was $ 40,000 (the median was $ 25,000). The highest priced ticket for a Winnipeg Jets game was $ 6.
In 2011 the median Canadian income was $ 30,180. The average NHL salary in 2011 was $ 2.4 million. The average ticket price to a Winnipeg Jets game for the 2011-12 season was $ 98.27.
In 2015 the median Canadian income was $ 33,920. The average NHL salary was $ 2.58 million. According to the Winnipeg Jets website, the highest priced tickets for the 2017-18 season will range from a low of $ 197 up to $ 257 for P1 seats depending on the opponent.
Comparing these figures, we can decipher that the Canadian average annual income is still short of doubling from 1972 to 2015. However, NHL player salaries and ticket prices have increased at a vastly higher rate over the same period. It is little wonder that it has become more of a challenge for fans to keep up with the increasing ticket prices.

But, don't let anyone tell you there's no inflation. Of course not.

 

[severian]

Rangers ticket prices are obscene.

 

[PlamsUnlimited]

Prices are pretty rough

 

[rkhum]

This is really weird, because Sunday's Ranger game...thr crowd was very loud and it looked packed, yet they still were 1K short of sell out.
Meantime, the Knicks, same deal, their crowds have been lively, but they too are mysteriously short 1K...what gives?

 

[severian]

This is really weird, because Sunday's Ranger game...thr crowd was very loud and it looked packed, yet they still were 1K short of sell out.
Meantime, the Knicks, same deal, their crowds have been lively, but they too are mysteriously short 1K...what gives?

It's pretty much $100/ticket just to get in to the Garden in the cheap seats. It's thievery plain and simple. It's really annoying for us Devils and Islanders fans too, because the ridiculous Garden prices are driving up the number of road Ranger fans in Barclays Center and Prudential Center. Joe Schmoe Ranger fan tends to live in Long Island or NJ and they aren't dropping $1000 to bring a family of 4 to the Garden, but they won't mind splurging once or twice a year for $300-400 for a family of 4 to be obnoxious in a rival team's arena.

 

[Killion]

... Joe Schmoe Ranger fan tends to live in Long Island or NJ and they aren't dropping $1000 to bring a family of 4 to the Garden, but they won't mind splurging once or twice a year for $300-400 for a family of 4 to be obnoxious in a rival team's arena.

.... the joys of close rivalries.... you get some of the Philly crowd up there as well, always fun.

 

[severian]

.... the joys of close rivalries.... you get some of the Philly crowd up there as well, always fun.

I don't blame them one bit. The Philly crowd doesn't really come to the Rock as much. I feel like the South Jersey suburbanites and Bucks county Flyer fans are terrified of Newark.

 

[rkhum]

Is this why?

The Knicks are showing they don’t have to sell out to win at the Garden.
In an odd quirk, the Knicks have sold out fewer than half their home games this season on their way to an 11-5 home mark. Only seven of 16 Garden games have seen a full capacity of 19,812.

The nine non-sellouts are only big news because the Knicks entered the season on a stirring run. Entering the season, despite all the losing, they had sold out 277 of 278 regular-season home games. The lone non-sellout in that spree came in March 2016 during a blizzard.
The toll of four straight non-playoff seasons and a new regime that talked up player development — a euphemism for tanking — probably is one factor in the non-sellouts.

Nevertheless, Garden officials said they also believe a new long-term marketing strategy in which more individual tickets were made available at the expense of full season-ticket plans is another cause.
In the long run, the Garden is confident the new strategy will pay off, giving the public more access to tickets. In return, the franchise was willing to take the short-term risk of not selling out.

Recently, the Garden limited the amount of season tickets for one purchaser to eight. The suspicion was purchasers hoarded season tickets to sell on the secondary market.
According to one Garden source, the larger amount of individual tickets available caters better to the growing number of European tourists who attend Knicks games.

“It’s becoming like the Yankees with all the tourists,” the Garden source said.
The notion a new plethora of individual tickets now are available may not have reached the masses for Knicks fans who think season-ticket packages are the only avenue, as has been the case in past years.

“Our new ticketing strategy has provided fans more options and availability to attend Knicks games throughout the season, and we’re seeing terrific individual ticket sales for every game,” Jordan Solomon, executive vice president of MSG Sports, said in a statement provided to The Post regarding the non-sellouts. “By reducing the number of full season subscriptions, we opened up more individual and group tickets, as well as five-game holiday plans, allowing fans added opportunities to see this young and exciting Knicks team. So far this season, the Garden as usual has been electric.”

https://nypost.com/2017/12/08/why-fewer-knicks-sell-outs-are-not-concerning-msg-officials/

 

[TOGuy14]

Same thing that is impacting all of the sports leagues these days:

1. Ticket prices have risen drastically above inflation for years now. The price to go as a couple or family is now obscene in most markets

2. Home televisions are now larger, cheaper and display in higher quality than ever. I can watch Leaf games in 4K on my 65" TV, drinking beers for 1/10th the cost of what it is at the ACC and it is great.

 

[Ola]

Is this why?


https://nypost.com/2017/12/08/why-fewer-knicks-sell-outs-are-not-concerning-msg-officials/

I am hardly an expert on this topic -- but I think most can attest to that there actually are more people at the games in MSG compared to earlier, when many tickets sold where left unused.